BUSINESS
Oana Ruxandra Tapped to Lead Business Development at WMG; Ron Wilcox Leaving at End Of Year
6/14/2019
by
Harley Brown
Oana Ruxandra will lead business development at Warner Music Group, with executive counsel, business affairs, strategic & digital initiatives Ron Wilcox leaving at the end of the year, Billboard has learned. Ruxandra will be reporting to WMG CEO Steve Cooper. No replacement has been announced yet for Wilcox.
"A talented negotiator and collaborative leader, Oana has a first-class strategic brain and keen sense of how to get deals done swiftly and effectively," wrote Cooper in an internal email obtained by Billboard. He added that Jonathan Monina had been tapped as vp, digital strategy & corporate development, reporting to Jeff Bronikowski on Ruxandra's team.
He also penned a note about Wilcox's departure. Wilcox -- who reported to WMG general counsel Paul Robinson -- notified Robinson that when he signed his most recent contract a few years back, it would be his last, as he would be finishing out a decade at WMG. "We all know that Ron will be as tough and determined a tactician as always over the coming months, but he will leave big shoes to fill," Cooper wrote. "During a remarkable 35+ year music-industry career, Ron has been a staunch defender of the rights of artists and labels, all the while helping to architect numerous landmark deals."
In 2017, Wilcox was appointed to the board of directors at SoundExchange. It has not yet been revealed where he is headed next.
Before joining WMG in 2009, Wilcox had held a long career at Sony Music. He was executive vp, chief business and legal affairs officer for Sony BMG Music Entertainment from 2004-2007; prior to that, he was executive vp, business affairs and new technology, for SME, Inc. He has also been a consultant for artists and companies operating in the realms of new media and technology through his own company, MDC.
Last year, Ruxandra was appointed to WMG's newly created position of executive vp, new business channels – chief acquisition officer. Prior to that, she became senior vp of digital strategy and partnerships at Universal Music Group in 2016, and before that, spent some years in the financial sector before getting her MBA and joining WMG as vp of digital strategy and business development.
